Understanding Why
by Aisling Yinyr Ngaio
Summary: Post HBP. ”Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery.” Dumbledore's wise words set Harry thinking about prejudices in the wizarding world and how it contributes to the wizarding wars.


**Understanding Why**

As I look at the long winding journey stretching out in front of me, I seek to take a moment and look back to see where I've come from, in order to determine my next step, my next decision. For acres and acres of my past eighteen years of life, I can only see a mass stretch of grey, and perhaps the occasional random patch of black or white or here and there. Rainbows have been very rare in my life. Since my birth, I have been thrown headfirst into a battle I do not wish to participate, but was forced to unmercifully when Lord Voldemort, the most terrifying Dark Lord of the period, decided, for some strange twisted reasons unknown, that I was going to be the one to eliminate him, and tried to kill me, all because of a stupid prophecy made by, surprisingly, the most idiotic fraud that ever walked the face of earth, Professor Sybill Patricia Trelawney. In a moment, my life was turned upside down. My parents were murdered, I was thrust forcefully into the wizarding world's limelight as the Boy Who Lived, but sent to be brought up by my dear aunt's family where I lived through years and years of torture with them prior to my admittance into Hogwarts, and now my nearest and dearest are constantly in danger of being captured as bait, forcing me to distance myself from them in order to protect them. What a life. The Boy Who Lived, yeah right. The Boy Who Lived To Become A Tortured Orphan At The Hands Of His Relatives, more like.

I cannot understand the necessity of such a stupid war. Where did Voldemort get his psychopathic philosophy anyway? From his genius ancestors, the Gaunts, last remaining descendents of Salazar Slytherin? Couldn't be. He never had any contact with them except a brief ten-minute encounter with his maternal uncle, Morfin Gaunt, whom he later as good as killed. Perhaps he was just seizing the chance at our weaknesses and using it to his advantage. Why did those pureblood manias concoct the rubbish ideas that Muggles and Muggle-borns are filth? (I won't blame them if they've met the Dursleys, but then again, they haven't) Why are the purebloods considered the more superior group and should be in charge? Another thing about Voldemort is that he's a darn hypocrite. He himself is a half-blood, like myself, which, according to his creed, is in the second-class, alongside with the group of wizards and witches they call the blood traitors, just because they don't support his ideology that the purity of wizarding blood ought to be upheld. The third class is, obviously, Muggle-borns, or what they dubbed the "Mudbloods".

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the terms "blood traitors" and "Mudbloods". Since when is accepting all magical beings as they are considered as treacherous, when compared to Voldemort killing off families and families of prominent and respectable blood brothers and sisters, while torturing and enslaving the rest, even his so-called friends, the Death Eaters? Why in the name of Merlin are Muggle-borns unacceptable just because they, like mum and Hermione, are born of Muggle parents? Did it make them one jot less talented or agreeable? Not for once! Well, once again, that's Voldemort for you.

I really want to know what on earth we did to offend them so badly that they want so much to hex us off the face of earth (besides the fact that I'm allegedly going to be his downfall). The best possible answer I've gotten so far is the fact that we have something they don't, something they're afraid of, something they will never learn to have, and therefore brush it off as not worth having. We have love, talent, self-sacrifice, and unity. And by having those indestructible feelings, we're invincible against any threat. He must have been frightened by the power we possess by standing together, and therefore employs the oldest trick in the book to weaken us: divide and conquer. Needless to say, he succeeded. During his reign of terror, no one trusts even their own family members and friends, afraid that they might actually be Death Eaters impersonating their loved ones to gain inside information. By this single act of shattering the unity we shared, the whole wizarding world came crashing down.

Deep down, Voldemort actually doesn't have a clue to explain the reason we are so powerful. He only knows that the threat of our power is there, and it must be contained. I, however, must attempt to understand it, for the understanding could be to our advantage and help end this meaningless war once and for all. I am the Chosen One, after all. He, Voldemort, in his rashness, has made it so, by marking me down as his equal, and seeking to kill me. Professor Dumbledore once said that "_Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery_". So he had spoken, and wise words they are indeed. We must understand what caused this dividing of factions within the magical and non-magical worlds to know how Voldemort managed to conquer us, and only by understanding and accepting our differences can we unite against him, triumph, and attempt to recover and heal our world, torn by battle and unnecessary terror.

How I miss him and his wise council. But he, too, once told me that "_to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure_". He really did understand about the secrets of life and death. I shall not look back and regret, but look forward and continue the fight we both have participated.

The first question I suppose I ought to answer is: why the enmity and eternal breach of the magical and non-magical worlds? What made Muggles hate wizards so much and vice versa? I suppose it is because of their differences. Muggles are very advanced in terms of inventions, but they don't have a drop of magic to help them, leading them to mistrust magic. Wizards, on the other hand, have magic on their side, making a lot of things simpler. This, however, made them lazy and lack inventive powers. Just think that we're still using quills, which are both messy and less convenient to carry about, compared to a pen, and paper is definitely lighter than parchment (Plus, the textbooks are _leather-bound_. Have you any idea how heavy they are?). So they essentially estrange one another because they eye the other side's power with apprehension, never even thinking of joining forces with one another, which, now that I come to think about it, is a waste. With both advantages at our disposal, we could utilise them to create bigger and better things! Like Mr. Weasley's car, bless him. It's a stroke of genius, if only someone will acknowledge that, especially Mrs. Weasley.

I suppose, because of this serious breach between the two worlds, the poor people who are caught in between, namely the Muggle-borns and most of the half-bloods, are in very awkward positions indeed. Their half-magical, half-Muggle lineage makes them belong fully nowhere. Observe, however, that they have the blessings of the understanding of both worlds through personal experience. They have the chance to experience both lives and are able to choose the better of the two to live on. In other words, they have the best of both worlds, having the ability to pick what's best for them. It is perhaps because of this that the pureblood manias, who have nothing but magic, and the Muggles, who have nothing but apprehension for magic, envies us. We have something they don't. We have both advancement and magic at our fingertips, a very powerful combination if we utilise it to its maximum.

With a balance between that and the four crucial elements of the planet (fire, water, wind, earth), no one will be able to penetrate our stronghold. Look at how united the four Heads of Houses are now, and look at how strong Hogwarts now stand. If only the Slytherins aren't such bigots like Professor Slughorn, Voldemort would not even stand a chance against us. Sadly, the Gryffindor–Slytherin argument was not forgotten until now, making it hard to repair the damage our predecessors left. United we stand, divided we fall. With McGonagall's bravery, Sprout's loyalty, Flitwick's intelligence and Slughorn's cunning, the school would be hard pressed to fall again. If only it is so for our world as well.

Is this the reason why Voldemort chose me and not Neville? Perhaps. After all, I am a half-blood. Dad and mum would ideally represent both worlds, as dad would know everything (all right, _almost_ everything) about witchcraft and wizardry, not only what is taught at Hogwarts, I suspect. After all, he came from one of the most prominent bloodlines in the wizarding world. No wonder he and Sirius were the top students for their year. And mum was the perfect example of a Muggle-born. She would know everything about Muggles from a Muggle's point-of-view, an important feat, as wizards often took for granted the uses of Muggle items, convinced that having magic will be more than enough for them, and not bothering to know what these things do, except maybe Mr. Weasley. And, most importantly, they were terrifically powerful in two ways. One, they were both talented and powerful magic users. Two, they loved me, and each other, fiercely. And, as Voldemort discovered to his cost on the night of Halloween 1981, it is precisely this love that saved me then, and still does now. "_To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever._" He will never be able to harm me, not now, not ever, although he has my blood in his veins, because he cannot love.

Perhaps Voldemort doesn't trust in love is because he was never loved, or because he was afraid of love. He had openly scoffed at Dumbledore's declaration that love is the greatest magic of all, yet, for all his immortality, which could keep him from dying, could not keep him from suffering so badly when the seventh fragment of his soul was ripped from his body. He doesn't understand, and doesn't seek to understand, that selfless love conquers all. He doesn't have the best of both worlds, as I do, because he turned his back on both, by killing his father and paternal grandparents, then framing his maternal uncle for the crime, thus, in one single day, eliminated his whole family. He failed to realise the goodness in both magic and non-magic, for both his family had been nothing but cold and distant and had neglected him all his life. Perhaps that is why I turned out differently than him, seeing as our youths were very similar. Perhaps if he was brought up differently, perhaps if he was taught to control his power at a younger age than eleven, he might not have turned this bad.

"_Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike,_" Dumbledore had said once about Sirius and Kreacher. Which reminds me that we, too, must look at what we've done to weaken the magical world that Voldemort had the chance to infiltrate us. As much as we want to be respected by our wizarding fellows as equals, we give no such respect to other magical beings. The giants, the house-elves, and the goblins, for instance. We've forced the giants to live together when it is not in their habit to do so, and we've enslaved the goblins and the house-elves to do our biddings, which the house-elves take quite cheerfully (maybe Hermione was right about them being brainwashed) and the goblins quite grumpily. If there's one thing I credit Voldemort of having, it's his ability to see and seize his opportunities. He himself boasted, that day in the Chamber of Secrets, that "_I've always been able to charm the people I needed_". And he did that essentially. Dumbledore knew that about him too. He had announced during the Leaving Feast in fourth year, the year I saw Voldemort's rebirth, that "_Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open"_.

I suppose I've found my answer then. Voldemort treats us just as we treat other magical beings: the goblins, the house-elves, the centaurs (even though they're extremely intelligent), the mermaids, the giants, the werewolves (Poor Remus) and what that Umbridge cow would call "filthy half-breeds", only because they potentially have more power than she would ever have in her whole miserable life. Aren't we as bad as Voldemort then? I guess we should stop abusing our fellow creatures, if we expect to be respected just the same. We could all live together as one, no boundaries, no discrimination, no killings.

And perhaps there won't be any "Chosen Ones" anymore.

Perhaps…

_– Finis –_


End file.
